Anti-recoil device for guns



Aug. 15, 1967 R. E. BENNETT Filed Sept. 24, 1965 INVENTOR. ADApH E. BEN/V577' TT'OENEYS United States Patent 3,335,515 ANTI-RECOIL DEVICE FOR GUNS Ralph E. Bennett, 1011 Maryvale Drive,

Cheektowaga, N.Y., 14225 Filed Sept. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 489,992 2 Claims, (Cl. 42-74) This inventon relates, in general, to the art of Weaponry and in particular to a means for damping the recoil of firearms. l

Heretofore, many prior art devices have been utilized to damp the recoil of firearms. Some of the prior art de- 'vices have utilized a butt plate slidably mounted on the stock of a firearm with a variety of complex spring mechanisms therebetween for achieving the damping result. Other prior art devices have utilized hydraulic -cylindrical telescoping members or piston and cylinder arrangements disposed between the stock and a movable butt plate, damping the recoil by restricting the flow of hydraulic fluid between the relatively movable members. To my knowledge, all of the prior art devices have used mechanically moving partsto achieve the damping result.

The present inventon provides a means for damping the recoil of recoiling weapons which has no mechanically moving parts. The present inventon, therefore, avoids the problems of wear, rust, malfunctions and the like which are inherent in devices employing such mechanically moving parts. Furthermore, the present construction avoids constructions wherein the effective length of the gun stock varies as in movable butt plate yconstructions of the prior art. The proportions and contour of a gun stock naturally aifect the feel of 'a gun and a gun wherein these proportions are not Constant or wherein cumbersome extraneous parts are present is highly objectionable in the case of hand firearms.

My new anti-recoil means utilizes the laws of physics and in particular the laws of motion to achieve the desired damped recoil. By providing a firearm with a fluid medium having a high specific gravity and proportionately high nertial properties, that is, having a high propensity to Vremain at rest or a high indisposition to motion, when the'weapon is fired and begins to recoil, a force is created opposite to the recoil force thereby substantially lessening and damping the recoil. The fluid medium tends to remain fixed in space as the Weapon carrying the fluid medium tends to move in a recoil direction, the interaction therebetween providing the damping effect.

` In the form of therpresent inventon disclosed hereby by wayof example, the high inertia flowable material employed is mercury. A closed chamber partly filled with mercury isV carried by the firearm, in the present instance by being disposed within the gun stock, and the chamber is so positioned that when the firearm is `at rest and in firing position, the space above the mercury is at least partially or principally located at a forward part of the chamber.

Accordingly, when recoil action moves the Weapon rearwardly the mercury tends to remain at rest and accordingly gathers in such empty forward part of the chamber. This accumulation of mercury in the previously empty forward part of the chamber takes place over a given distance of movement of the Weapon in its recoil so that increments of mercury are accelerated progressively over a given distance as such increments meet the for- Ward confines of the chamber and are thus accelerated in a rearward direction. Thus the mercury imposes inertial increments of force in opposition to the recoil action which are distributed over a distance determined in general by the amount of empty space initially present in the forward part of the chamber. At the instant when this rice retarding effect is entirely dissipated the empty space within the chamber would presumably be entirely located at the rear thereof.

It is therefore an object of the present inventon to provide a recoil damping means for firearms which has no mechanically movable parts and which relies on the principles of inertia for substantially damping such recoil. It is a further object of the present inventon to provide a simple recoil damping means which is easily adapted for or applied to firearms which have already been made and which are currently in use. To achieve this versatility, the present inventon requires only that the firearm be adapted to carry the heavy fluid medium in a suitable chamber and the preferred form shown herein requires only that a bore hole be provided in the stock of the Weapon for receiving the fluid medium of the recoil damping means.

It is another object of my inventon to provide a recoil damping means for firearms wherein such recoil damping means is secured within the Weapon and has no eX- ternal protuberances which might interfere with the sighting, holding, carrying or other manipulations necessary to use the Weapon effectively.

It is still another object of the present inventon to provide a recoil damping means wherein, once the firearm is adapted to receive `and contain the same, no further mantenance or other adjustments are required in order to have a recoil device operative for the life of the Weapon.

While a single embodiment of the recoil damping means of the present inventon is illustrated in the drawing, it is to be understood that such embodiment is by way of example only and that the scope of the present inventon is not limited to such embodiment nor otherwise than as defined in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation view of the stock portion of a standard firearm such as a shotgun with the stock thereof partially in cross section to show one form of the recoil damping means in my inventon; and

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view similar to FIGI showing the approximate position or condition of the flowable medium at the instant that a recoil damping operation has been eflected.

Referring now to the drawing, illustrative of one form of the present inventon, the numeral 1 designates generally a Weapon which, in the exemplary embodiment, is shown as a firearm of the rifle or Shotgun type. The general configuration of firearms of this type is well known and suffice to say that the firearm shown comprises a stock 2 ,and a trigger mechanism 3, the barrel or barrels not being included in the drawing. The stock 2 has a bore 5 which traverses the length of the stock and receives the usual connecting means between the stock and the breech in the form of a screw or =bolt, this being conventional construction in shotguns. A butt plate 6 is provided at the rear end face 7 of the stock.

The recoil damping means of my inventon in the form shown herein for illustrative purposes comprises a cylindrical container 10 preferably formed of stainless steel and having a threaded .opening 11 at one end thereof for insertion of the fluid medium of my invention described hereinafter.

A closure 12 is provided for opening 11 and comprises a screw which is threadably received in the opening 11 with a tight fit for sealing the same. The illustrative form of the container of my inventon is cylindrical but may take other forms, the cylindrical form being chosen for `its adaptability for insertion into the stock of a variety of standard firearms by merely boring the same to receive the container.

asaafns The specific dimensions of the container 10 may vary somewhat according to the type of Weapon in which the recoil damping means of my invention may be utilized; but With reference to a 12-gauge shotgun and by Way of example only, the container dimensions may approximate a length of three inches, a diameter of 'V8 inch and a Wall thickness of approximately .020 inch. The internal cross-sectional area of this container is about .54 square inch and the internal volume is about 1.61 cubic inches. While these dimensions may vary in actual practice and may be varied to fit different types of Weapons, a container of these dimensions carrying the high inertial substance in the proportions hereinafter described has been found satisfactory to substantially damp the recoil of a 12-gauge Shotgun. A l-gauge shotgun, to use another example, has less recoil and, therefore, a correspondingly smaller sized container and a smaller amount of fiuid medium may be utilized to achieve a desired recoil damping effect.

A bore 14 is provided in the stock, opening at the abutting end 7 thereof, for receiving container 10. Bore hole 14 extends lengthwise of the stock and is inclined at an angle to the axis of Ithe barrel, the gun being shown in a horizontal firing attitude in the drawing. The bore hole may be disposed above or below the bore but is disposed in the preferred form, above the bore for more direct alignment With the recoiling force of the Weapon.

Container fits snugly in the bore 14 and a resilient Washer 16 may abut against the rear end of container 10 as shown. Butt plate 6 is secured to stock 2 by suitable means, such as screws 17, and retains Washer 16 against the rear end of container 10 thereby providing a snug, tight fit between container 10, butt plate 6, and bore hole 14.

A fluid medium of high specific gravity, in the present example mercury, is disposed Within the container 10 by insertion thereof through opening 11. The mercury shown at 18 in the drawing is filled into the container 10 to Within approximately a quarter inch of the top end thereof When the cylindrical container is in an upright position.

Generally speaking, for shotguns the container is preferably 75% to 95 filled depending .on the recoil characteristics of the particular Weapon, the ammunition size utilized and various other parameters. Referrng to the container specified earlier heren, this figures to from 9.5 to 12 ounces. With a 12-gauge Shotgun and a container of the size specified earlier heren Optimum results have been achieved when the container was about 85% filled with mercury. Suffice to say that it is an important feature of this invention that the container be only partially filled so as to leave a void as at 19 within the container 10. Mercury is preferred as a fluid medium in the present invention because it has a high specific gravity and ready fiowability.

It is apparent that as the Weapon is fired the stock 2 Will tend to recoil `or move to the left as seen in the drawing and the mercury 18 in the container 10, by virtue of its high inertial properties as previously discussed, Will tend to remain at rest and will thus fiow toward the front end of the container 10, filling the void 19 and creating a new void at the rear end of the container as shown at 20 in FIG. 2. The tendency of the mercury to remain at rest during recoil is translated to a fiow toward the front of the .container Where it is arrested progressively relative to the container and thus accelerated in a rearward direction. This resistance to acceleration provides a progressive and continuous force in opposition to the recoil force, thus minimizing recoil forces.

There has thus been provided a recoil damping means having no mechanically moving parts, no external protuberances, no parts subject to Wear and which is simply constructed, low in cost and adapted to firearms of various sizes, thereby fulfilling all of the previously stated objects of my invention. Furthermore, the absence of mechanically moving parts makes the anti-recoil arrangement of the present invention practically fail-proof.

I claim:

1. Recoil damping means for a shoulder firearm having a stock and a barrel, said recoil damping means comprising an opening in said stock at its butt end and extending lengthwise thereof and inclined forwardly up- Wardly relative to said barrel, an elongate container disposed within said opening and having an internal length dimension of at least about 2.96 inches and an internal cross sectional area of at least about .54 square inch, and mercury filling said container to between and of its internal volume to leave a void at the forward end thereof for damping the recoil of said firearm against a user's shoulder by impingement of mercury against the forward end of said container due to inertia of the mercury.

2. Recoil damping means for a shoulder firearm having a stock and a barrel, said recoil damping means comprising an opening in said stock at its butt end and extending lengthwise thereof and inclined forwardly up- Wardly relative to said barrel, an elongate container disposed Within said opening and containing at least about 9.5 ounces of mercury and the internal volume of said container being suflicient to provide a void at the forward end thereof equal to at least about 5% of the internal volume of said container for damping the recoil of said firearm against a user's shoulder by impingement of mercury against the forward end of said container.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 311,755 2/ 1885 Hermle 42-74 837,601 12/ 1906 Beh'r 42-74 1,147,941 7/1915 Haslett 42-74 1,255,566 2/1918 Pearson 42-74 2,259,569 10/ 1941 King 42-1 2,344,752 3/1944 Utz 42-74 3,191,330 6/1965 Olson 42-1 SAMUEL W. ENGLE, Primary Examiner.

BENIAMIN A. BORCHELT, Assistant Examiner. 

1. RECOIL DAMPING MEANS FOR A SHOULDER FIREARM HAVING A STOCK AND A BARREL, SAID RECOIL DAMPING MEANS COMPRISING AN OPENINGS IN SAID STOCK AT ITS BUTT END AND EXTENDING LENGTHWISE THEREOF AND INCLINED FORWARDLY UPWARDLY RELATIVE TO SAID BARREL, AN ELONGATE CONTAINER DISPOSED WITHIN SAID OPENING AND HAVING AN INTERNAL LENGTH DIMENSION OF AT LEAST ABOUT 2.96 INCHES AND AN INTERNAL CROSS SECTIONAL AREA OF AT LEAST ABOUT .54 SQUARE INCH, AND MERCURY FILLING SAID CONTAINER TO BETWEEN 75% AND 95% OF ITS INTERNAL VOLUME TO LEAVE A VOID AT THE FORWARD END THEREOF FOR DAMPING THE RECOIL OF SAID FIREARM AGAINST A USER''S SHOULDER BY IMPINGEMENT OF MERCURY AGAINST THE FORWARD END OF SAID CONTAINER DUE TO INERTIA OF THE MERCURY. 